I love summer, I really do. I love the sunshine, the birds singing, the flowers in bloom. But here’s the thing: I can’t stand the heat, and neither can my kids. They get hot and irritable, I get tired and cranky, and everyone ends up having a bad time.

Luckily for us, there’s no end of amazing spray parks in Edmonton to keep the kids cool and refreshed on those unbearably hot Northern Alberta summer days. The city has spent some serious money recently on opening new kid-friendly parks, especially spray parks, and we now have some of the best facilities in the province, if not the country.

All of the city’s spray parks are great options, but here are my family’s favourites. Feel free to comment and let me know yours!

Located in Southwest Edmonton, Callingwood Spray Park was opened in 2011 to much fanfare. The City partnered with the Government of Canada, Province of Alberta, and numerous community organizations to cut the ribbon on the $890,000 spray park.

Designed around a “river life” theme, the park is one of the very best facilities in the province and includes:

40 different water effects that shower, spout, spray, shoot, splash and spill water

Three separate activity areas – one for small children, a multi-age section, and an area for older children.

Make sure to bring along some sun protection, though, because there’s not much tree shade in the park.

Jackie Parker Park in Southeast Edmonton is very popular with smaller children. The $3.2 billion park open in 2010 and features a top class spray park, a climbing wall, and an amazing playground. The spray park is zoo-themed and has a separate area for toddlers, so they’re not crashing into all the big kids.

Kinsmen Park is in the heart of the river valley, off Walterdale Road on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River.

This highly visual spray park is extremely colourful and has a wildlife theme, with bears, owls, and foxes as far as the eye can see. The sprays and jets are light, so ideally suited to smaller children.

Located right next to the spray park, you’ll find the new Queen Elizabeth outdoor pool, as well as the Kinsmen Sports Centre, Kinsmen Pitch & Putt, children’s playground, sports fields, picnic sites, river valley trails, and the John Walter Museum.

Located right in the heart of central Edmonton, in the Cloverdale Community League, this conveniently located splash park has loads of great, colourful sprayers to keep kids busy. It’s not as feature-rich as some of the bigger parks, but still a fun place to stop off for an afternoon in the city.